The “Most Influential Women in Health IT” Share Words of Wisdom and Issue a Call to Action

I had previously profiled Stump last May after she gave a presentation detailing how the health system is using data and health IT to drive value to patients. In an interview, Stump, then interim CIO, drilled down into the health system’s health IT strategy as it continues its journey to value-based care. A pharmacist by training, Stump has had a unique journey to the CIO role, but key to that journey, she said during the webinar, was thinking as a clinician first, and leveraging technology resources and data to drive health care. “I wasn’t traditionally trained in healthcare IT, or IT, per se, but I was asking the right questions about why can’t the technology do what we need it to do? And that opened those doors, it’s about not being afraid to ask those questions or being afraid that you might look silly, and recognizing the talent of people around you to answer those questions and that creates empowerment to solve big problems. And we still have big problems in healthcare and I encourage everyone to think that way, to think outside the box.”

And while I think it’s definitely worth listening to the entire webinar, the award recipients shared some words of wisdom about leadership that I think bear repeating here:

“’Keep your head down and do the job.’ I took me a few years to take the advice and appreciate it. And what means is, don’t be distracted, by politics, by other people’s competing priorities, by naysayers, but to really focus on the goals, focus on what’s important, on the people who could help you advance those goals. The more you do that and build your credibility and reputation, the path before you becomes open.” – Lisa Stump

“Change management lies in opportunity conversion. My mentors said, ‘When you can change a challenge into an opportunity that is when you will succeed.’” –Rachelle Blake

“The advice that was given to me, ‘Don’t bring me a problem without bringing me a solution.” –Karen Guice, M.D.

“Education is important; learn the tools of the trade, the secret is to get the certification, get trained in the language, whatever you’re trying to be good at.”— Guice

Regarding the assets that women bring to the health IT industry: “The inclusion. Women always include everyone, and everyone has a role and is important. We’ll help you achieve your goals.” – Shareefa Al Abulmonem

On measuring the future success in health IT: “Technology has the power to shift the way we look at healthcare. When I look at how we measure success in technology, we need to look at it in a phased approach. We’re making doctors understand technology. As technologists, we get it; doctors went to medical school, we studied information technology. We need to listen to these challenges, such as around workflow. We have a lot of work to do right now, as technologists, delivering these tools in a more practical way.” – Christina Caraballo